Hawkins was bathed in afternoon sunlight as Daisy Lonsdale buttoned up her leather jacket and untangling her bowtie from work. A permanent frown painted her face, not quite pleased she was walking in the direction of the Wheeler house. As her boots slapped against the footpath, she spied the two storey houses, much like her own, with children playing in the front gardens and fathers mowing lawns. She had even witnessed Mrs. Capshaw offer homemade lemonade to her pack of four kids, who had been rolling around in piles of dead leaves. The very mundane and somewhat picture book perfect scene had Daisy rolling her eyes, hating how boring her life was, and mildly terrified she would end up the very same in fifteen years. Although, the small town in Indiana was dull and uneventful, that would change tonight.

Maple Street was covered in dying colours, the change in seasons coming fast. Daisy had paused outside the pleasant family styled house; brick and wood walls, too many windows and an overly large front yard where a number of bikes perched. She noted Micky Fields's bike among the heap, rusted in a few places and branded with his favourite colour of blue. Before the young girl knocked on the front door, she found herself cursing her darling mother again, who had played a big part in Nancy Wheeler tutoring her.

"Daisy, hello." Mrs. Wheeler was pretty faced, styled hair and all American in the right places. Karen Wheeler, once childhood best friends with Molly Lonsdale. Now the women were practically strangers. Nevertheless, Karen was always polite. Today, she had a toddler rested upon her hip, the child grinning with her chubby cheeks. "Come in, come in. Nancy's upstairs in her room."

The youngest Lonsdale child stepped into the foyer, noticing the overly styled living room, paired with an actual dinning room. She spotted Mr. Wheeler lounged at the television, hissing out something about the constant static. "Thanks for letting me stop by..." Daisy noted politely, not really having any words to fill the quietness.

Karen Wheeler smiled. "That's alright, dear." She headed towards the kitchen, where a delightful smell of frying onion oozed from the stovetop. Daisy bypassed the open basement door where she heard shouts coming from and gave Karen a puzzled look. "Don't mind the boys, they've been down there all day playing...hmm, dungeons and something. Would you like a drink or anything? We've got orange juice or milk—"

"I'm fine, thanks." Daisy replied, giving a little gesture to the staircase. Karen was already turning away while keeping an eye on dinner and making sure Holly didn't get too restless on her hip. "I might just get this tutoring thing over and done with. It was nice seeing you again."

A quick goodbye was exchanged, Daisy hurrying up the stairs while catching a glimpse of all the family photographs hanging on the walls, a slight ache in her chest realising that her own family had barely any at all. Thankfully, Daisy found her way towards Nancy's room, noting where the bathroom was before sticking her head around the bend of the wall and tapping on the open door. "Nancy, hey."

Nancy Wheeler was turning away from her desk, which was covered in thick textbooks and an overwhelming amount of study cards. A pen dangled from her fingertips, but she managed a quick flash of teeth, despite not being very keen on the idea of spending the night with Daisy Lonsdale, who she knew, had no interest in being here. "Hi." The two girls waited for a long moment, both not quite sure how this all worked. Nancy broke first, carrying a stack of notes to the bed. "Um, I've quickly made up some notes. I wasn't sure how far along you are with the readings."

Daisy finally moved from the threshold, her eyes skimming around the overly pink bedroom. It screamed girly and pretty, everything Daisy had found herself moving away from when her sister went missing. Girlish things, pastel colours and frilly things had all been Marigold Lonsdale. Now, it even hurt Daisy just glancing into her sister's untouched bedroom, which almost mirrored Nancy's bedroom. "Yeah, cool. Notes are...great."

Nancy lowered herself to the bed, catching the dying light outside her window. Daisy turned away from the photographs stuck to a pin board, showing a happy family. "Alright. We've got a few chapters to work on from the textbook, but it shouldn't take too long. We'll just cover the basics for the exam next week."

"Peachy."

Slowly, Daisy was shrugging out of her jacket and lowering her bag to the carpet after her mostly sarcastic comment. Weirdly, the girls found a nice silence while they went over the notes, Daisy realising just how far behind she was in chemistry. The time went by smoothly and quite quickly because soon enough, Nancy's landline was ringing, the girl muttering a quick word about needing to take the call with Barbara Holland. Daisy waited for a few minutes, before realising the conversation wasn't ending anytime soon.

Daisy was gathering her notes. "You know, I'm just gonna' head out. You seem busy."

"I mean, he's cute. Barb, no, I don't think so—" Nancy was saying, her fingertips curling around the blue phone cord, but she was giving Daisy a quick smile, somehow a sign of saying goodbye without actually having to leave the comfort of her bedroom and her gossip session about Steve Harrington.

Daisy heaved out a sigh, but did not even get the chance to roll her eyes before a new figure stood in the doorway, breaking her attention while she grabbed her bag and jacket. "Hey, Nancy! There's a slice of pizza left if you want it. Sausage and pepperoni!"

Dustin Henderson with his curly hair and baseball cap was grinning from ear-to-ear, Daisy almost cringed as she passed by him in the threshold. Without a single word in his direction, Nancy was slamming her bedroom door shut, the thud echoing through the corridor. "I'll take it." Daisy noted quietly, snagging up the slice and taking a bite while Dustin's face clouded with rejection from Nancy Wheeler.

The pair of kids made their way downstairs, saying another goodbye to Karen and Ted Wheeler. Outside, the air had cooled a little bit and Daisy was rubbing her hands together to provide some warmth as the garden sprinklers went off. Mike Wheeler, along with his friends; Dustin, Lucas, Micky and little Will Byers had now gathered on the driveway, each boy picking up their bikes. A honk sounded in the dead night, a familiar truck pulling up to the driveway.

"Micky, let's go!" Dottie Fields called out, the poor soul that had to pick up her kid brother. Daisy was already striding towards the truck, not paying much attention to the boys' conversation about Nancy having a stick up her butt. "Hey, how was your studying session?"

Daisy shrugged, "You know, whatever."

"Hmm, not giving away any details? Okay. Hop in, I'll drop you off home." Dottie grinned, sticking her hand out the window and waving at the boys still lingering in the driveway.

Micky Fields pushed his bike towards the car while Daisy help him load it into the back. "Will, do you want a ride home? We're headed that way." Dottie asked kindly, since the family lived right by the Byers house. She would have offered Dustin a ride home too, but there wasn't enough room and he lived across town.

Will shook his head while turning on the front lamp of his bike, "I'm alright, thanks. I'll ride back with Dustin, there's a shortcut with Mirkwood." Dottie had no idea what the kid was talking about, there wasn't a street called Mirkwood in town, but she let it slide. At that point Daisy was yanking open the truck door, letting Micky slide in first while he waved to his friends.

"Alright. Stay safe kids." Dottie called out in a goodbye.

Micky was rambling on about their game of Dungeons & Dragons while the car roared to life, making a terrible screeching sound. Dottie was sending her little brother a tiny smile, actually enjoying his wildly crazy recalls of the pretend game the boys all played. Daisy was shoving her bag between her feet, her eyes turning back towards the Wheeler house where only Mike and Will waited. She heard the last bit of their conversation while the window was still rolled down. "...the Demogorgon. It got me."

As the truck pulled away, the outside lights of the house flickered, Daisy noticing it. Too bad she didn't notice Will Byers ride off into the dark night. Little did the sleepy town of Hawkins know, that was the very moment that changed everything.